Researchers have discovered a protein that, in mice, can protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease for several months.
- Researchers have found that injecting mice with a mutated protein can protect them from Alzheimer’s disease.
- After just one injection, they experienced an improvement in their memory for several months.
- So far, these results have been observed in mice and will not necessarily be the same in humans.
900,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in France, according to National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and, for the moment, no curative treatment exists to cure them. But research is progressing, as demonstrated by this new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Mutated protein injected into sick mice
To fully understand this new discovery, we must look back at the origin of Alzheimer’s disease. It is caused by two types of lesions: amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary degeneration.
“Each of these lesions is associated with a protein: amyloid beta peptide (ß‑amyloid) for amyloid deposits, and phosphorylated tau protein for neurofibrillary tangles“, indicates Inserm. These are the lesions that alter the brain and therefore lead to memory loss.
In their work, the scientists used a mutated amyloid protein. This was already known to the scientific world – it was discovered in the Icelandic population – as having a protective effect against Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.
They tested this mutated amyloid protein on mice with Alzheimer’s disease, in the early stages of the pathology. The rodents were separated into two groups: one which, via one injection into the brain, receiving this mutated protein, and the other, where nothing was administered.
The study lasted four months. During this entire period, the researchers observed very good results: the mice in the first group were protected against Alzheimer’s disease!
In detail, in these mice, the accumulation of Tau protein was reduced, as were lesions to neurons and synapses, the contact zone between two neurons. The researchers also noted an improvement in their memory. On the other hand, there was no impact on amyloid deposits.
Towards a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease?
These results are very encouraging but, for the moment, they have only been observed in mice and will not necessarily be the same in humans.In the future, we will try to develop a gene therapy that will allow this protein to be expressed more easily in the brain than through local injection, the latter being less feasible in humans.“, says Marc Dhenain, research director at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and one of the authors of this study, in an interview with 20 minutes.
Clinical trials should therefore be conducted on humans to confirm these results, and perhaps one day use these mutated amyloid proteins to combat Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.
A hope because, by 2050, the number of people with dementia in Europe will almost double by 2050, rising to 14,298,671 in the European Union and 18,846,286 in Europe as a whole, according to forecasts byAlzheimer Europe.